Tony Greig
Anthony "Tony" William Greig (born
October 6,
1946) is a former
cricketer and currently a commentator.
Although born in
South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his
Scottish father, and at six foot seven in height he cut an impressive figure. He became captain of the national side from
1975 to
1977, and was also captain of the Sussex county side. Greig's younger brother
Ian, also played Test cricket.
He was a sometimes controversial figure. His most daring act was when he helped
Kerry Packer start
World Series Cricket by signing up many of his
English colleagues as well as
West Indian and
Pakistani cricketers, a move which cost him the captaincy of England. He is also noted for a controversial run-out of
Alvin Kallicharran in a Test match against the
West Indies in 1974. In a later match, he turned in a personal performance that saved the series for England. He also clashed with Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee on the 1974/75 Ashes tour in Australia.
As a cricketer, he was one of the most gritty players to have come out of England during the 1970's and perhaps their finest captain in recent history. He often liked to challenge the fast bowlers by bowling bouncers at them so that they do the same in return. He was about the only batsman from England who stood up to the pace of
Dennis Lillee and
Jeff Thomson during the
Ashes series of 1974-75. When Australia toured England the following summer, he took over the captaincy from
Mike Denness after England had succumbed to the Australian
fast bowlers in the first Test. Greig made drastic changes to the side, bringing in players like
David Steele and
Bob Woolmer who helped England survive the onslaught of Australian pace bowlers.
When
West Indies toured England in 1976, Tony Greig made a "faux pas" that didn't just cost him the Test series, but also lost him many friends. In a TV interview prior to the Test series, on being cajoled by the interviewer on England's chances, he commented that if
West Indies went behind in the series, their players would "grovel" under the pressure. Coming from a former South African player, this immediately hit the headlines and the West Indian
fast bowlers didn't let down their hostility through the summer. England lost the series 3-0, despite drawing the first two Tests.
The best part of Greig's career was still to come though. In 1976-77,
England toured India for a five Test series. England had not won a Test series in the subcontinent since 1961-62 and were not expected to do much better against the Indian team that had some of the best spinners in the world as well as the support of tens of thousands of vociferous fans that filled the stadiums. Greig however, proved to be the ideal captain for the series, making good use of the experience from his previous tour in 1972-73 as well as his amazing rapport with the Indian crowd. England went on to score one of their one most convincing wins in a very long time when they won the first three Tests by huge margins. Greig rated the win at
Calcutta, in front of 100,000 Indian fans as the finest moment of his career.
When Packer's cricket was made public in 1977, Greig incurred the wrath of the pro-establishment English media. It cost him the captaincy and, a year later, he also quit his county club
Sussex.
The lack of regular domestic cricket as well as the intensity of
World Series Cricket, brought a premature end to his career as he could not recover from a poor start in the first season. The supertest final of the 1978-79 season was the last match Greig played at any level of cricket. During an interview on the eve of the match, he "promised" a century to the audience. He fell short by exactly 100 runs, caught behind off his arch rival,
Dennis Lillee.
Greig was once involved in a controversy during an
English tour to the West Indies in 1974. It was the second day of the First Test at the
Queen's Park Oval. The West Indies had been batting, and were held up only by an unbeaten century by Kallicharran. Greig was fielding at silly point. The last ball of the day was bowled to
Bernard Julian, who knocked it past Greig and then headed off to the pavilion. The stumps were pulled on the batsmen's end and most of the English team set off for the pavilion themselves. Greig's back was to all this action and he was not aware that his side had conceded that play be suspended for the day. Seeing Kallicharran out of his crease, he fired the ball into the wicket and instinctively appealed, and
Hang Sue was forced to raise his finger.
The home crowd was less than entirely pleased and proceeded to storm the pitch and besiege the pavilion. After two hours, the English appeal was withdrawn "in the interests of cricket in general and this tour in particular", but a cloud remained over the rest of the series.
After forming a bond with the
Nine Network's late
Kerry Packer during the
World Series Cricket days, Greig was offered a "job for life" by Packer as a commentator during Nine's cricket coverage. Today, Greig lives in Australia and continues this commentary role, and is criticised by some for his bias against the
Australian team and his occasional out-of-context comments. Greig also has commentated for
Channel Four in the United Kingdom. He is also a board member of
the Epilepsy Association.
In 1999 Greig was involved in a controversy where, in a match at the
North Sydney Oval, the camera zoomed onto a couple in a marriage ceremony at a nearby church. Greig made a remark about the woman shown being a
mail order bride - "Do you think she's been flown in?". [
1] The Remark was made "off microphone and not intended for broadcast".
* Rae, Simon;
It's not cricket; Faber and Faber Ltd., 2001; ISBN 0-571-21582-3
